Container cap



March 22', M49. LE ROY H. RHDE ET 'AL 2,465,269

CONTAINER CAP Filed No'v. 4, 1946 Patented Mar. 22, 1949 CONTAINER CAP Le Roy H. Rohde and J ames E. Underwood, Phoenixville, Pa., assignats to The West Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 4, 1946, Serial No. 707,562

3 Claims.

This invention relates to container caps and more particularly to such caps which have a portion that is removable thereirom to afiord access to the contents of the container on which the cap is mounted. While not limited to caps for containers of any particular type or size, the invention is particularly applicable to pharmaceutical containers or bottles, especially single dose bottles.

Heretofore it has been the practice to provide a pierceable closure member or stopper, formed of rubber or like material, for pharmaceutical containers or bottles, especially those of small size, and to provide a metallic cap which serves to hold the stopper in place and which has a removable disk portion to afiord access to the container by removing such portion and piercing the closure member or stopper with a suitable instrument. In the past, considerable difliculty has been encountered with such caps due to the fact that the disk portion wouid frequently bend or arch upwardly when the user attempted to remove such portion, and consequently, the removal of said portion has been rendered difiicult and annoying. Furthermore, the above-mentioned behavior of the disk portion frequently resulted in rough and sharp edges at the tear points which were hazardous to the user.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved container cap of the above-mentioned type which overcomes the aforementioned objections.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a container cap of the above-mentioned type wherein the aforesaid removable disk portion is novelly formed so as to overcome the aforementioned objections and to facilitate the removal of said portion.

The invention may be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a miniature, or a single dose, pharmaceutical bottle having the cap of the present invention applied thereto, the illustration being slightly larger than full scale;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged sectional perspective view of 3. portion of a container With the cap applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged top or plan view showing the cap in further detail;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the removal of the disk portion of the cap, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the disk portion after its removal.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

there is shown a container or bott1e l0 of conventional form, to which a closure member or stopper Il is applied. As may be s'een in Fig. 2, the closure member Il, which may be formed of rubber or like material, has a tubular portion l2 extending within the neck [3 of the bottle, a peripheral fiange [4 which seats against the annular head I5 of the bottle, and a central thin Wall portion l6 which is pierceable by a suitabie instrument to gain access to the bottle contents. The closure or stopper member l I may be of conventional form, and the present invention is not concerned With the structural form thereof.

A cap il, preferably formed of a soit metal, such as aluminum, serves to hold the closure member or stopper il in place and also protects said member against contamination prior to the use of the bottle contents. The cap Il has a top portion (8 and a depending peripheral fiange l9 which is adapted to be crimped or spun inwardly as at 20 below the annular head [5 of the bottle, thereby to secure the cap permanently to the bottle. The top portion I8 of the cap includes a removable disk-like portion 2l which is integra1ly connected to the annular portion 22 of said top at two diametrically opposed points 23 and 24, said disk portion being severed from the annular portion 22 along arcuate lines 25 and 25.

As thus far described, the structure, including cap Il, is representative of cap structures employed prior to the present invention, and which have the inherent objections hereinbefore mentioned. Disregarding for the moment the novel features presently to be described, and assuming that the disk portion 21 is a plain fiat disk as heretofore used, when the user inserts a finger nail or some implement under the edge of the disk approximately at the middle of one of the arcuate lines of severance 25 and 26, exerting a prying force to tear the disk loose from the annular portion 22 at points 23 and 24, there is a tendency for the disk to arch upwardly and this makes the removal of the disk extremely diificult at cimes, not to mention the annoyance to the user. Moreover, there is a resulting tendency to leave sharp edges or points where the disk tears away from the annular portion 22, and this presents a condition which is hazardous to the user and may result in personal injury.

In accordance with the present invention, the disk portion 2! of the cap l'l is provided with a rib 21 which extends diametrically across said portion substantially at right angles to the diameter defined by the points 23 and 24. The rib 21 prevents the disk portion from raising or archng upwardly during removal of said portion, and the said rib acts as a rigid lever and facilitates removal of said portion. As shown in Fig. 4, the user may remove the disk portion 2l by inserting a finger nail beneath said portion at one end of the rib 27, the users finger being represented in dot and dash outline at 28. When the disk portion is pried upwardly at one end of the rib 131, in the illustrated manner or by means of some implement, the rib acts as a lever and fulcrums about its opposite end. Owing to the presence of the rib 21, the disk portion is readily severed from the annular portion 22 at the points 23 and 24. Moreover, the integral connections fracture cleanly and do not leave ragged or sharp edges. In Fig. 4, the integral connections between the disk portion 2l and the annular portion 22 have begun to fracture, while Fig. 5 shows the disk after its remova].

The provision of the rib 21 is the essential featurc of the present invention, and while this rib alone is sufiicient to accomplish the purpose of the invention, it is preferred also to provide smaller arcuate ribs 29 and 30 along the edges of the disk portion, extending between the points 23 and 24 of connection of said portion to the annuiar portion 22. These arcuate ribs serve further to rigidify the disk.

The main rib 21 and the auxiliary ribs 29 and 33 may be readily provided on the cap 11 during the manufacture thereof. Such a cap is formed by means of suitabie dies, and the ribs may be formed by suitable design of the dies so as to raise or deform the metal and thus form the raised ribs. This will be readily apparent to those sisilled in the art.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that the invention provides a simple and effective solution of the problem encountered in prier container caps of this type, as hereinbefore discmsed. Moreover, the invention requires only that the forming dies be suitably designed, and it does not increase the cost of manufacture of the cap.

While the invention has been described with reference to the specific embodiment illustrated, it will be apparent that the device is susceptible to modification without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A container cap having a circular top and a peripheral flange by which it is adapted to be secured to a container, said top comprising an annu1ar portion and a removable disk portion within the annular portion and integral1y connected thereto only at two diametrically opposed points, there being diametrically opposed connections at said points, said disk portion having a rib thereon extending substantiaily at right angles to the diameter defined by said points, whereby said disk portion may be readily removed from the cap by appiying an upwardly prying force at either end of said rib t0 cause shearing of the diametricallyopposed connections.

2. A container cap having a circular top and a peripheral fiange by which it is adapted to be secured to a container, said top comprising an annular portion and a removable disk portion within the annular portion and integrally connected thereto only at two diametrically opposed points, there being diametrically opposed connections at said points, said disk portion having arcuate ribs along its edges extending between the points of connection thereof to said annular portion, said disk portion also having a rib thereon extending substantiaiiy at right angles to the diameter defined by said points, whereby said disk portion may be readily removed from the cap by applying an upwardly prying force at either end of said rib to cause shearing of the diametrically-opposed connections.

3. A container cap formed of soft metal and having a circular top and a peripheral fiange by which the cap is adaptcc to be secured to a container, said top comprisin an annular portion and a removable disk portion within the annular portion and integrally connected thereto on1y at two diametrica1ly opposed points, there being diametrically opposed connections at said points, said disk portion being removable from the cap by applying an upwardly prying force to the disk portion et the periphery thereof intermediate said connections, said disk portion being ribbed so as to render it rigid to the aforementioned force and thus cause such force to be applied with full efiectiveness to said connections to shear the same.

LE ROY H. ROI-IDE. JAIVS E. UNDERWOQD.

REFERENGES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,482,823 Stattmann Feb. 5, 1924 2,387,955 Tilson Oct. 30, 1945 

